I love shanks. If they come off a wallaby, kangaroo, deer or lamb, it doesn’t matter. The thing that makes them all good is the muscle and its gelatinous nature, which gets me excited. Normally, I’d cook shanks in the cooler months, but the last few years I’ve enjoyed them in summer. Summer is a veg fest for us backyard growers, so the very thought of a meat fest in the middle of summer gets me wobbly at the knees. And even though I could serve these shanks with a side of fresh summer veg, I blatantly refuse to. It’s a bowl of tender melt-in-your-mouth meat. Why add anything to it? Well, it sure makes a change for me, anyway.
Patience is super-important when cooking shanks. I recommend you set the dish cooking then bugger off out to the garden to potter for a few hours. For your effort in the garden you shall be rewarded with a summer meat fest. Hot and spicy, too, so you’re required to knock the top off a coldie to wash down all that spice.